Planting them seeds at Imbolc.

Blessings Darlings!

The interwebs are full of Imbolc rituals full of seed plantings.  Regardless of local conditions, regardless of local climate zones.  Regardless of the fact that, in most of Europe/North America, the only seeds you'd plant now are onions (and that's not necessarily the occult correspondence most folks are after just now, ya know.)  Regardless of what's actually going on in their local land base. Yeah, the seeds represent changes in your life - but working outside of nature isn't all that Pagan/Witchy.

Doesn't work for me, but okay, if that floats their boat (that was said in my best Bawltimore accent, not a Boston accent, hon), let's go into what has to be kept in mind when doing seed work.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Planting seeds, and having them come up soon, can be a great psychological boost.  So, while parsley is a seed that can be started now - don't use it.  It takes forever to sprout, even if soaked before planting.  One of the parsley seeds I planted outside last spring ... didn't sprout until fall.

How are you with houseplants?  If you tend to kill them all - this type of ritual isn't the type for you.  What you plant isn't likely to grow any better, and if you are relying on a magical bond between the plants you are starting and your outcome - you may well have a problem.

Does what your planting actually grow in your area, and if not, does it grow well indoors?  Will the plant last as long as it takes you to make a real change?

SPIRITUAL CONSIDERATIONS
Nothing grows well unless you've prepared the soil beforehand.  Ideally, you'd have been doing that since Yule.  Gathering materials, clearing away known obstacles, clearing room, carefully identifying goals and steps along the way, etc.  

Have you taken care of this step?

Planting - the official starting - of the process is great.  But there's a long time and a lot of work between planting and harvesting.  What are you plans for dealing with early frosts?  With weeds? With insects and disease?  Spiritual goals have these things, too.  And just doing the planting isn't really enough to get past the vice of Malkut (inertia).

How long can you go without getting the harvest you expect?  We all know the meme "Oh, Lord, grant me patience, and give it to me NOW".  

Are the seeds in tune with your spiritual goal?  Lavender sprouts well, but may not be the best to plant if you're after physical fitness, or business success.




Will you need help with harvest?  Okay, most of you aren't planting acres of wheat, but still ...


This isn't an exhaustive list, obviously. Just stuff to keep in mind.


Frondly, Fern

My Pagan Year

Blessings Darlings!

There was a bit of a debate about 'names for the full moon each month' in a Facebook group I'm in.  [BTW, if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion - if you say "I've done a huge amount of research on this" .... don't later change your story to "this is my UPG"] 

But I don't name moons, or care to do so.  I look at local plants and animals for my seasonal cues.

Imbolc - is when lambing has started in my area. And when I start seeds indoors

Beltane - is when hawthorn leaves the size of squirrel's ears (your squirrels ears may vary). It's time to transplant tomatoes to the garden.

Lughnasadha - the barley harvest is done, take a breath before the next heavy harvest work. Or .... in MY life .... first tomato is ripe in MY garden. Because there isn't much barley in my area. Wish there was, it would help my beer making.

Samhain - 3 days after the killing frost. Not the one that gets the basil, the one that kills those tomato vines noted in Lughnasadha.

Incidentally, I saw the first goat kids last week. Perfect timing if I celebrated Passover, since one of the songs sung there is "Chad Gadol" which translates as "One Goat Kid"

Frondly, Fern

 

Coven Rituals

Blessings Darlings!

As you  may know, for my PERSONAL practice I use my local climate/watershed/landmass for my cues.  So it's still a few weeks from Imbolc for my personal practice.

However, last night I celebrated Imbolc with my coven.  Because we set dates for celebrating High Days all at one time, once a year, so we are better able to arrange everyone's schedule.  And because the group members are spread over such a large geographical area that, say, hawthorn leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear at vastly different dates for some of us. 

If we were all in the same neighborhood, rather than spread across 3 states, we might better be able to see the local signs and then celebrate as a group 3 days later. But that's not our reality.  And even with everyone knowing the date in advance - had the celebration been on a night the Spawn was called in to work I'd not have been able to make it, and one coven member had to miss the ritual as it was.

That's life.

Frondly, Fern

Crumbs

Blessings Darlings!

The Julian calendar says today is Imbolc - which is a milestone and high day to be sure, but it's still just the middle of the 'hungry time of the year'.  So making food stores get thru' till first good harvest is still a priority, especially for those of us who farm and/or garden.

Part of the art of frugality (and surviving, and MacGyverism in general) is the 'expanding the marginal utility' of everything.  You know - re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle type mind set.  Like - I just started onion seeds in egg cartons.

That's a feature in my kitchen as well.  Not JUST pre-planning use of leftovers, tho' I certainly do that.

Let's talk bread.

We who make our own bread know that it has, especially in winter, a variable lead time from starting it to getting it on the table.  Yeast prefers warm weather, and we who use as little heat as possible have house temperatures that vary greatly day to day.  This is because, while I raise the temperature for a few hours in the morning and evening, after that the rate at which the house temperature drops varies by how cold and windy it is outside.  So I have to pre-emptively bake bread, anticipating need.

I don't always do this well.  Sometimes I get a lot of bread in the house at once, and there is risk of some of it getting moldy before it all gets used.  That's where making bread cube dressings for chickens and such comes into play, or making bread puddings, etc.

So the LOAVES can have their marginal utility expanding.  But what about bread crumbs?  After all, slicing that lovely, crusty home-made bread really does produce a heck of a lot more crumbs than you get buying pre-sliced bread!

First, how would you collect the crumbs from slicing?  In my case, I've set it up so the cutting board we use for bread sits in a low-sided quarter baking sheet.  It nests very nicely!  Slice bread, the crumbs stay contained.  And they build up FAST.

So, you have lots of crumbs, now what?  First you use them in the dishes that normally require bread crumbs - topping casseroles, frying foods, buttered crumbs on veggies, etc.  But when the Chubby Hubby or the Spawn leave slices of bread out that they've cut badly (like, they only got half a slice, etc) then I end up with LOTS of stale bread and crumbs.  What then?

The you look online, and find lots of recipes for cookies made from bread crumbs!  They aren't half bad, either.  I'd share them, but I really haven't changed them at all, and I don't have the links handy (Printed them out LONG age).

Crumbs.  They're for dinner.  And dessert.

Frondly, Fern

Imbolc Preparations

Blessings Darlings!

Want to prepare?  Okay.

Turn off the podcast.  Put down the book on Wicca. Step away from the computer.

Instead ... go outside. Spend time there.

Make it a point to notice when it's sun rise and sun set each day.  Feel the lengthening of the light in all your being. 

Leave offerings for the local manifestations of the nature spirits.  It's still the hungry times for them, and will be for rather a while.  Coat a big pine cone with peanut butter (or melted tallow) and roll it in bird seed.  Tie it on to a local tree.

Frondly, Fern

Full Moon in Cancer

Blessings Darlings!

Today's the Full Moon, which makes it a Wiccan Esbat. Many of us will be working magick today, as esbats are good for that. With the full moon in Cancer, it's probably especially good for family/relationship magicks, I'd guess.

I wish that there was going to be an Esbat working at OccupyDC, but none is planned.  I'm too far away (and have no car today) so can't make it there to see about organizing one.  OTOH, this is as good a time as any for me to start looking into if the DMV (that District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) Pagan community has anything going to support OccupyDC, and if not try to get something going.  Nothing based on the coven I'm in or the two Pagan denominations I'm in, but Pagan individuals working to support the protestors, especially the ones sleeping in the Plaza.  I'd REALLY like to make sure that, if Occupy wants it, that there an be an Imbolc celebration there. 

Frondly, Fern